just wanted to say hello to everyone ... i came across this website and thought it would be good to chat to other people who are also trying to lose weight.

i didnt want to turn this into a sob story ... feel sorry for me, you know? i cant lose weight etc, ... but i cant! hehe ... i used to be a 'very rotund' child ... lost a heap of weight in my late teens/early twenties and maintained it for a number of years ... just over 3 years ago, my dad passed away and it has constantly been creeping up ... i keep starting new 'diets' that unfortunately don't last ... i've got 10 kg's that i really want to get rid of ... my problem is during the night ... yes DURING ... does anyone else have or had this problem and if so, how were you able to overcome it? basically, i will get up during the night and head straight for the fridge ... im not sleep walking ... im conscious that im doing it but can't seem to stop myself *sigh*

well, there's my little introduction whinge ... thank you for taking the time to read it ... i hope to hear from anyone that would like to say hi and/or anyone that can give me any advice ...

hi there bella welcome to the group yeah no sob stories here mate we are all about taking control of our lives including our eating habits and moving forward into a postive direction... and all that!

a few of us know what its like to lose a parent or family member and a few also know about eating in the middle of the night. one of our wonderful maintenance girls sarah might be able to give you some tips- she has done very well for herself and it can inspire you to take charge of your eating habits

do you make any diaries of your eating or why you eat? that might be a good start best wishes

Hey Bella and welcome to the forum! I wish you all the best on your weight loss journey!

To say you can't lose weight is giving up before you start!! You can mate, but you just have to really want to. It is a very hard road to travel, but one that has it rewards! If you are consciously heading for the fridge, then only you can stop it! You have to ask yourself..am I really hungry?? If the answer is no...then go and find something else to do...read a book, do some exercise etc...distract yourself from just eating for the sake of eating! It is habit and habits can be broken. Don't give in!! (Have a look in the just chatting section I have posted an Emotional Eating thread...have a read it may be helpful to you )

Man oh man, do I know what you mean about opening the cupboard and taking out food that you neither need nor really want.... Although I don't tend to eat during the night, I do snack ALL DAY LONG!!!

I have a couple of suggestions which may help; but only if you're really ready to change - this is a huge battle and you need to be 100% committed. (Unfortunately!)

1. Try making sure there's nothing unhealthy available to you in the middle of the night - after all, you're not going to nick down to the shops at 2a.m for a Mars Bar are you? This way if you wake up in the middle of the night you're forcing yourself to snack on fruit, or celery sticks, etc.

2. Make sure that you put any leftovers from dinner into the freezer - don't make them easily accessible.

3. This may seem a little extreme - but I have a friend who was a night snacker and this worked wonders for her - if at all possible, try locking the kitchen door at night. This makes you doubly aware that you're making the choice to grab food that you don't need. Leave a cup in the bathroom, or a water bottle beside your bed, so that if you're needing a drink you don't find yourself in the kitchen. You can buy a lock for an internal door from Bunnings and they're not all that difficult to install..... but I guess you need to have a door to your kitchen that can be locked - which I unfortunately don't have. LOL

Hope this helps, and good luck with your battle... if you want it this site will provide you with unlimited support, advice and encouragement.

I'm a night eater too. I think I do the exact same thing as you... I get up, go to the loo, then head straight for the kitchen without even thinking! I've had a couple of nights where I haven't eaten anything, and it's been great... but those nights are few and far between

It takes a huge conscious effort to make myself not wander into the kitchen at night. And it's hard to make a conscious effort when you are only barely awake! I think it's a matter of doing it once, then again the next night, and again until you just don't do it anymore... that'd be great wouldn't it

I'm a bit unfortunate in that I don't have a lockable door to my kitchen... in fact, there are no doors between my bedroom and the kitchen (well apart from my bedroom door, and it's probably best not to lock that!) So, I've started putting a chair in the hallway to remind myself not to go into the kitchen.... but I just walk right on by it. Tonight a pad of paper and a pen is going on the chair, and I will make myself sit and write down what and why I want to eat. After I week I'm sure I'll end up with a list of pathetic excuses and far-fetched justifications

Sorry Bella for writing a novel here. I'm still searching for the answer too We will beat this!!

Great story - its okay to winge sometimes, I guess thats all part of it

I always have cravings for chocolate and sweet things in general. The thing that really helped me most was to watch my mum go from a size 28 (I dont know how heavy she was) to a size 12 currently (and she's very small!). She told me that she doesn't even crave food anymore - and believe me she used to crave everything from sweets, to cheese, to bread etc! She thinks that the longer you stop yourself from over indulging, the less your body thinks its needs these sort of foods. I totally believe her, because ive seen the results for myself, so every time I crave chocolate now I tell myself that eventually my body wont crave it, but only if I dont eat it this time!

You could also try taking a relaxant for a few weeks - otherwise known as sleeping tablets. I usually take them (for alternate reasons) an hour before I expect to be sleeping. They dont knock me out or anything, but when you do go to sleep it puts you into a deeper sleep so your less likely to wake up in the middle of the night. They wear off after about 8 hours so dont worry about sleeping through alarm clocks or anything.

Great idea about the sleeping tablets Jenni. I've actually had the same thought myself. I'm not to keen on doctors and I'm guessing you'd need a prescription for it. I've never had that much success with the herbal ones, valerian etc, but might give it another go

So with the food cravings... ignore them and they will go away? I think that could be true! The less you eat, the less you want to eat.

Wow another middle of the night eater...thought Sarah was our one and only. I don't have any experience in that as I love my sleep too much and getting up for a pee is about all I stand for. Anyway the guys here have given plenty of good advice already. I hope you figure it out and find how to put a stop to it. Usually easier said than done but good luck with that and let us know how you go.